As a firefighter is engaged in firefighting activity the arms of the firefighter are actively moved.
When a firefighter is wearing a conventional firefighter's coat, upward movement of the firefighter's arms results in strain or tension between the sleeve portions of the firefighter's coat and the body portions of the firefighter's coat. Such strain between the sleeve portions of the firefighter's coat and the body portions of the firefighter's coat usually causes upward movement of the body portions of the firefighter's coat with upward movement of the sleeve portions of the firefighter's coat. Such upward movement of the body portions of the firefighter's coat causes the firefighter to expend energy in excess of the energy required to raise the sleeve portions of the firefighter's coat with upward movement of the arms of the firefighter. Of course, in view of the fact that a firefighter's coat has significant weight, the energy required to raise the body portions of the firefighter's coat adds unnecessary stress to the firefighter. Also, raising the body portions of the firefighter's coat may expose unprotected portions of the torso regions of the firefighter.
Therefore, the structure of a conventional coat of a firefighter has objectionable features.
It is an object of this invention to provide a firefighter's coat having structural features which permit arm movement of the firefighter without causing significant responsive or resulting movement of body portions of the firefighter's coat. Therefore, the firefighter's arms can move without creating unnecessary stress upon the firefighter and without causing exposure of unprotected regions of the firefighter's body.
It is another object of this invention to provide such a firefighter's coat without significantly increasing the amount of material which is normally found in a firefighter's coat.
Other objects and advantages of this invention reside in the construction of parts, the combination thereof, the method of construction and the method of use, as will become more apparent from the following description.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,864,655 and 5,010,591 disclose firefighters' coats which reduce resistance to arm movements. However, the structural features thereof are different from the structural features of the firefighter's coat of this invention.